Breaking Our Habitual Nature
Sri Aurobindo indicates that the predominant instincts of material existence are self-preservation, self-repetition, and self-multiplication. The bodily life in particular wants to persist, not progress; repeat, not enlarge. This habitual nature causes us to be fixed, rigid, and unwilling to change. It thus shuns possibilities and opportunities. It is an aspect of our physical consciousness, inherited from the inertia and inconscient of matter via our physical bodies. Our habitual nature is a slave of the subconscient and its mechanical reactions. And yet when we perform an act in a fresh, new way, rather than in the tired old way, life immediately opens before us. When we get off the dime, and move away from our physical consciousness that is fixed and wants to repeat, we open the portals of possibility. In this way, each of us can identify one or more dead or dull routines in our own lives, and experience that same sort of magic. If we come upon a habit or ritual that has no life behind it, and then try to do it differently, life will suddenly open up before us. What was once limited and finite will suddenly blossom. What was dull and unexciting will instantly energize. In that way, our fixed, dull habits and routines will begin to give way, attracting not only startling positive life conditions, but in that process bring moments of unexpected happiness and joy. E.g. if my boss asks me to work weekends -- when I normally don’t, and besides is something I don’t like to do -- and catch my negative reaction, life will respond positively to that change. The effort to break the old habit will attract powerful positive conditions from life. This is precisely what happened to me many years ago, and the result is that I attracted the biggest sale of my life. Or if I notice that I am walking along the same old path, and instead desire and see a new course to take, I am startled to discover a bookstore in an unexpired location where I find a volume that lists a person who will evaluate my upcoming book for little or no charge. That also happened to me, and I was able to get a detailed 30 page review of my book on Life Response for absolutely free, which helped me immensely in producing a far better version a year or two later. That form of Grace came because I literally took a different (physical) path. Over time, we can learn to overcome the dead or deadening habit completely through the exercise of a steady Will, until the day when it is finally broken. In addition, if we intensely offer the matter to the spiritual Force, to the Divine Mother, then our mental will can turn into SPIRITUAL will, which will break down the habit much more quickly, while also dissolving related ones. Finally, if we live life from a deeper center, we become much more sensitive to our reluctances, fixidities, and habits; our unchanging, repeating nature. In tandem with an indomitable Aspiration and Will to change these specific aspects of our nature, and our conscious effort to surrender the problem to the Divine Force, we open the portals of infinite possibility where our deepest aspirations in life are instantly fulfilled. Category:Habit Category:Physical Consciousness Category:Human Makeup